Promokitchen Podcast

Join Denise Taschereu of Fairware and Alex Symms of PowerStick for a discussion on sustainable packaging. Brought to by PromoKitchen + Promo Cares with the support of Hit! Promotional. Editors note: At the time of recording Alex was working with Chamelon Like. He has since switched roles and is now working at PowerStick. The intro was not re-recorded to reflect this change so we wanted to advise here to avoid any confusion. Thank you for listening!

Just as we promised, a follow up to our interview with Dale Denham, President of PPAI, in August 2021. This was initially intended to be an update after Dale’s first 100 days as PPAI’s new President and CEO, but unfortunately Omicron put Expo into all-hands-on-deck crisis mode. Fast forward to today, with 5 months on the job, Chefs Mark Graham and Kate Plummer had their chance to sit down with Dale to discuss how he navigated the twists and turns of a new position, the leadup to Expo, and what his strategic vision is for the promotional products industry moving forward.

Ever wonder how a product comes to market? So did we! Chef Kate Plummer sits down with Brandon Mackay and Brittany David of Snugz to talk about how product development moves from idea, to production, to market. In part two of this two part series, we cover how you market a product, what contributes to Snugz's success and what happens when it's in the salespeople's hands.

Ever wonder how a product comes to market? So did we! Chef Kate Plummer sits down with Brandon Mackay and Brittany David of Snugz to talk about how product development moves from idea, to production, to market. In part one of this two part series, we cover how you figure out trends, how you fit it into your factory and what you have to consider for production.

In the latest PromoKitchen x PromoCares collaboration podcast, sous chef Amanda Delaney, Key Account Manager at High Caliber Line, and Denise Taschereau, co-founder and CEO at Fairware, sat down with Traci Tarquino of Hit Promotional Products as she breaks down the behind-the-scenes process(es) of designing for sustainability in the promotional product industry, and how sustainability goes far beyond just the product itself.

In this episode, Kate Plummer talks with Nel Mihan from Promotional Resource Group - PRG about how the role of the multi-line is changing. Neil shares his experience in building an agency, supporting US companies in Canada, and how to market in the new world.

In this episode we talk with Wil Cormier from Staples Promotional Products about how to look for new talent and how to foster it. Wil breaks down why internships matter for the diversity and success of the promotional products industry. He also talks about how he uses mentorship for successful team building and how to work with a cross country team.

As entrepreneurs and business owners there are so many parts of business that we don’t realize are necessary, available or even options. In this podcast we are sitting down with Scott Edidin of Xactly and 6AM Sourcing and CJ Ritterbusch of Concord Marketing Solutions to talk about various options of financing from start up to established business and what those options entail.

"If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." In this bonus PromoKitchen podcast, PromoCares board members Meg Erber with S&S Activewear and Mandi Rudd, owner of Brand Energy Marketing, join chef Johanna Gottlieb and sous chef Amanda Delaney for an emotional and powerful conversation about Sleep In 4 Good; an incredible fundraising event designed to bring awareness to the direct correlation between sleep deprivation and mental health. Mandi and Meg share some behind-the-scenes details of what it took to create and implement the event's nation-wide marketing campaign, their fundraising partnership with NAMI, and they talk to us about why the entire PromoCares board is determined to bring the importance of mental health awareness to the forefront of the promotional product industry.

As part of our on-going series on mergers and acquisitions Chef Kate Plummer and Sous-Chef Andrea Pereira talk with Chris Anderson, CEO of HPG. Chris talks about his 5 key areas that need to be satisfied for a business to be a smart buy. He also breaks down how launching Batch and Bodega worked and how HPG views the market.

As part of our on-going series on mergers and acquisitions, Chef Kate Plummer and Sous-Chef Andrea Pereira talk with Jo-an Lantz from Geiger, as Jo-an lets us in on what Geiger's thought process is when looking at potential acquisitions. She also talks about what comes up when looking globally, and why cyber security should be your top concern. This discussion is wide-ranging and definitely worth a listen to hear Jo-an's predictions for the future.

In this special episode, Mark Graham and Johanna Gottlieb sit down with a very familiar face in the PK community, the new CEO of PPAI, Dale Denham. Dale served on the board for many years, and he played a monumental role in establishing PromoKitchen as one of the leading nonprofit organizations in our industry. Dale has spent the past 10 years of his career serving as the CIO of Geiger, and he held the position of Senior VP at ASI prior to that. In this wide ranging conversation, Mark and Jo speak with Dale about the reasons for his career move, what he feels the largest opportunities and threats we as an industry are currently facing, and he shares his views on the importance of diversity, as well as his plans to lead our industry's largest trade association through today's challenging climate.

As part of our on-going series on mergers and acquisitions Chef Kate Plummer and Sous-Chef Andrea Pereira talk with Jamie Watson at Certified Marketing, Jamie lays out what is needed to sell your company and what you should be doing right now to make your company better, whether you're selling or not. Finally, a must listen portion for any business owner or salesperson, Jamie breaks down best business practices for your long term planning. Jamie has been involved various aspects of Finance and Accounting for over 20 years. She qualified as a CPA in the state of Indiana, where she worked for a regional accounting firm, and became acclimated to the small business environment. Jamie transitioned to CMC in 2006 and has been involved in the consulting of both supplier and distributor companies in the Promotional Products Industry for 15 years. Her passion is in helping business owners achieve their financial goals through education and understanding of the financial issues that face small businesses, both inside

As part of our on-going series on mergers and acquisitions Chef Kate Plummer and Sous-Chef Andrea Pereira talk with Chef Larry Cohen of Axis Promotions, now Halo Branded Solutions. Larry walks us through what an acquisition can look like from the seller side and what everyone should know. He also drops some amazing Business 101 information that you definitely should start using now. Bio: Larry Cohen is the Founder of Axis Promotions, a full-service marketing and promotions agency, and now serves on the Executive Committee of HALO, the parent company of Axis. After working as a lawyer in Washington, D.C., Larry decided to change directions and put his creative energies and entrepreneurial spirit to use. He founded Axis in 1991 with one goal: build something that was - and still is - 180 Degrees From Ordinary. Axis has grown to become a creative powerhouse in the promotional products industry, with a client base including American Express, L’Oreal, NBC Universal and more. When Larry is not busy growing Axis,

At PromoKitchen, we're exploring all the different sides of mergers and acquisitions in the industry. Our first conversation is with Bridget Smith of Zazzle, formally Boundless. Bridget talks about being the lead on acquisitions, what funding looks like in 2021, and what made Boundless and Zazzle two different companies. Bridget Bio: Bridget has had many roles since she started at Zazzle in 2005. Presently, she's our VP of Special Operations, overseeing the myriad of new opportunities that Zazzle is working on. She's also run our international operations, primarily opening and staffing our European headquarters in Cork, Ireland. She was Zazzle’s CFO for seven years and has also managed our acquisitions of FanMade and Boundless. Quite simply, there's not a facet of the business that Bridget hasn't touched. Prior to coming to Zazzle, she was a CPA at Ernst & Young, the Director of Finance for Apple's U.S. operations for 13 years, VP of Finance at Intuit and also co-founded an educational software company, T

In this episode Chefs Johanna Gottlieb (Axis powered by HALO) and Charity Gibson (Peerless Umbrella) talk to Kristine Shreve. Kristine is the founder and CEO of Kristine Shreve Consulting, which offers writing, marketing and business development services. The company can be found at www.kristineshreve.com . Kristine is also the creator and host of the Business + Women podcast, where the discussion centers around being a business owner and being a woman and how those two states of being intersect. Currently, Kristine is also the Director of Marketing and Outreach for Applique Getaway. On Facebook, Kristine is the founder of the Women in Garment Decoration Facebook group. Kristine was the Director of Marketing for Ensign Emblem and EnMart from 2006 to April 2020. In this episode we break down how we can help remove the bridge between decorators and distributors, we talk about how zoom has forced us to face some challenges and more!

In this episode, Chef Kate Plummer sits down with sous-chef Josh Pospisil about coming out and finding community. We cover how to create positive spaces and why he keeps wearing pink on Wednesdays.

In this episode chefs Kate Plummer and Josh Storey talk to Elise Lindborg and Kelli Henderson of Brand|Pride about Pride month, how to combat "Gay Washing," and what it takes to run a certified LGBT owned business. Brand Pride is a lesbian owned, LGBT certified branding solutions company. For 20 years they've guided hundreds of brands on their quests for the best promotional items to achieve their goals of building brand loyalty. What started out as a small, home-based business twenty years ago is now a bustling seven-figure operation with clients of all sizes nationwide. They challenge businesses to put their money were their ideals are.

Chefs Johanna Gottlieb and Kate Plummer sit down with the Redwood Classics team to talk about the launch of their impact report. They cover what it means to be sustainable, what a circular economy is and why women led businesses are important. The Redwood Classics team is Kathy Cheng, Ashley Chan, PJ Tang and Jasmin Bollman from Misfit Marketing Consultancy and Katie Motta from Shift Circular join them to talk about their work.

In this episode, Chef Danny Rosin and Chef Mark Graham explore what happens when you combine the power of the humble T-shirt, with a powerful message and fuel it with social media. In our discussion, we feature the story of Timmy Zhu, a software developer by day and a volunteer and tireless advocate for the nonprofit, Operation Smile, by night (and some of the day too).